By Thomas E. RicksThomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military for the Washington Post from 2000 through 2008. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com.

January 10, 2014

Politico is asking today, Who lost Iraq? They got a variety of interesting answers from the best minds in the business.

Meantime, Brian Fishman has a good article, published by the West Point Combating Terrorism Center, looking at what led to the current dismal situation in Fallujah. The bad news is that al Qaeda is in Anbar province receiving support or acquiescence from the tribes. The worse news is that the situation in Syria gave al Qaeda a safe refuge and access to many foreign fighters. The worst news of all is that, "Good governance, including effective law enforcement and intelligence work, is the only way to eliminate a terrorist organization, and that does not seem likely in Iraq anytime soon."